Managing our brand online Alison Kerwin & Phil Wilson Web Services

September 2009February 2010June 2010 onwards… Web ServicesFaculties July 2010 onwards…  Initial Framework of Standards  Revised training programme  Closer links between Web Services and Faculties/School  Greater emphasis on strategic priorities and delivery of business value…

Pre launch Research / benchmarking; looking at our own statistics and evaluating similar websites Focus groups and/or beta tests; to test designs and principles User testing; navigation proposals, site architectures Post launch Heat maps / user tracking Analysis of statistics Review and refine How do we do what we do?

Measuring success

 Increase in visitors to international pages to 15% – currently 10 per cent  All calls to action are used  Increase in traffic to features and key areas – eg. Study 5%, people searching for programmes, interacting with the features area (previously links to news articles with no pictures)  Lowered bounce rate  Set process for adding features and promos Success criteria

 Increase in visitors to international pages to 15% – currently 10 per cent  All calls to action are used  Increase in traffic to features and key areas – eg. Study 5%, people searching for programmes, interacting with the features area (previously links to news articles with no pictures)  Lowered bounce rate  Set process for adding features and promos Success criteria  4% increase to PG 5.8% increase to UG 1.1 increase to International

Demonstrating success

Note: On average a user spends 00:01:12 seconds per page when visiting our website A look at the stats

Where can we go from here?

A note about research

Key facts  Research does not feature in the top 10 most used links from the homepage  Compared to Study and Faculties & Departments the site gets few visitors Key initiatives  New Web Content Editor (Research & Business) starts on 1 st August  Homepage features aim to drive traffic to /research or research related articles … and social media, videos and blogs  Greater emphasis on research on department sites  Research impact embedded across site Maximising exposure of research

eProspectus screenshot

 HE White Paper – the fight for AAB+ students  £9000 tuition fees and increased student expectations  Access agenda  Students wanting more information and more and more and more… Responding to an (even more) competitive environment

In marketing it is recognised that one size does not fit all… this is very true of websites.  More targeting – blending our understanding of web behaviour with market analysis/business intelligence from OPP = tailored user users and/or targeted content in key areas (e.g. where a programme may be struggling and/or where we notice demand from a particular country)  Introducing conversion tools = Application Hub  Greater emphasis on promoting placements, career prospects and Open Days… Responding to an (even more) competitive environment

Beyond the website...

“They are the first generation to embrace and master technology, using it to democratise media, driving consumer power through Web 2.0. The power of social networking and blogs means charlatan brands and glossy spun marketing programmes will be exposed and the brands rubbished” (Precision Marketing, 2008). Our current and prospective students are largely from Generation Y

 forums and online communities  blogs  social networks  multimedia sharing  social bookmarking  Digg  RSS readers  micro-blogging  cloud computing They use social media every day

73% of active online users have read a blog 45% have started their own blog 39% subscribe to an RSS feed 57% have joined a social network 55% have uploaded photos 83% have watched video clips Visiting social sites is now the 4 th most popular online activity – ahead of personal Figures from “What the F*ck is Social Media” by Marta Kagan They use social media every day

“As consumers have increasingly become more sophisticated in their use of the internet, the importance of online communities has grown for marketers. It is recognised that consumers use them to seek advice, information and assistance prior to making a decision about purchasing a product or service.” (Rowley 2000) They like to talk and share

In 2011, social media will be THE top priority, according to a survey of senior-level PR professionals Vocus Research, PR Planning 2011

“Companies cannot ‘control’ or ‘harness’ conversations about their products, people, or brand.” Kodak Social Media Guidebook

Our 2010 UG Accepts Survey demonstrated that many of prospective undergrads viewed The Student Room as a key source of information. It is all advice provided by students for students.

How can we respond?

The student voice counts more than ever…

… a brand can be destroyed by social media so now more than ever the student experience counts!

More, more, more…  More information from REAL students; forums, videos, opportunities to chat to them direct  More social media  Listen  Engage What else can we do?